Keira felt strange just standing there while Emma dressed in sweats and a t-shirt before sitting down onto the sofa and motioning with her eyes for Keira to join her. Keira sat on the edge of the sofa just in case she needed to make a quick exit after a breakup, but that didn’t make any sense. Emma just said she could come over whenever she wanted. She said that even if they’re fighting, Keira could still come in.
“So…”
“Keira, I love you.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I just–”
“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything wrong. I was the one acting like an asshole when you needed time to sort through things,” Emma interrupted.
“I was the one holding back when I shouldn’t be. I should have told you I was considering LA.”
“Then, why didn’t you?” Emma asked.
“I guess I was trying to delay the inevitable or find another way.”
“But LA is what’s right for you?”
“No, I’m good right where I am,” she proclaimed and offered Emma a shy smile.
“Here? San Francisco?”
“Yes. And also maybe here, in this apartment, if that’s still an option. Not permanently; unless we both decide that later. Just until I can find a place–”
“You’re going to stay here?” The corner of Emma’s mouth lifted in a lopsided smile, which quickly corrected into a beaming grin.
“I’ll stay at my place until the lease is up. I should probably look into selling some of my stuff. I don’t want to make it hard to move around, and–”
“Just hold on, okay?” Emma took a weighted breath, and Keira worried for a moment that she’d gone too far.
“Is everything okay? Should–”
“Just hold on.” Emma stood and walked over to the kitchen counter where her laptop rested next to a pile of paperwork.
“What are you doing?” Keira questioned, stood up and followed.
“I got home last night and I felt terrible about what happened. I acted like a child because of things that happened with someone that wasn’t you.”
“Eli?”
“She really did a number on me, I guess.” Emma picked up a stack of papers. “She just did this thing in the beginning where she was non-committal. She wanted me but didn’t want the girlfriend label. Then, she did and didn’t want to move in or even talk about it. Then, she’d talk about it. We’d get serious about taking that step, and something would come up. She’d rethink it. I didn’t know it at the time, but that was because she was cheating on me. I guess it made more of an impact than I thought.”
“Emma, I’m not cheating on you.” Keira took her hand. “I was a little scared of you doing this just because I need help right now, and–”
“I’m not, Key–”
“I know that. But the fact that you’re offering it for real, because you actually want me here, makes it even scarier for some reason. I don’t know if I’m ready for that part, but that’s not because of you. It’s because of me. I’ve never done this before. I know that’s an excuse, but I don’t want to mess it up. You’re too important. I don’t want to mess us up. But I realized, thanks to Kevin, that I’m going to push you away if I just stay scared of everything and don’t trust us to do this stuff together.”
“Kevin is a smart man.” Emma smiled and squeezed Keira’s hand.
“I want to stay here with you, Em. If that turns into something more permanent later, then I’d be okay with that. If things go wrong though, because it was too soon, we need to be honest with each other and admit it.” She paused. “I haven’t done a very good job of that with you, but I promise I will, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And if we decide we want to be together but need to live apart until we can get the timing right, that’s the most important thing to me, Em. I just want to be with you.” Keira pulled two pieces of paper out of her pocket and placed them on top of the stack of what looked to be work documents.
“What’s this?”
“The forms from speed dating.” Keira unfolded both of them. “I kept them. I had them on my fridge for a while until you came over. I quickly hid them in a drawer because I was embarrassed.”
“You kept these?” Emma smiled and stared at the two forms.
“Yeah.” Keira felt her cheeks blush. “I didn’t know why at the time. Honestly, I wasn’t sure you’d ever talk to me again outside of what we had to do for the health fair. But I just felt like I needed to keep them. I felt like I might want to have them someday. Like I’d want to look at them and think back on the time when I didn’t know if you’d be in my life.”
“You checked the box next to my name.” Emma looked from the form into Keira’s eyes.
“You checked mine.”
“I did, yeah.” Emma nodded. “I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to since we were helping out Olivia. I checked it because I wanted to be a good sport.” She smirked.
“So, it had nothing to do with the fact that maybe you liked me a little bit?” Keira smirked back and dropped Emma’s hand to place her own gently at Emma’s hip.
“Oh, I liked you a lot bit.” Emma matched Keira’s wording in a teasing tone. “I just wasn’t ready to admit it yet.” She took a step closer and placed the stack of pages back on the counter. Her arms went around Keira’s neck, and she pulled her in. “Please tell me you’re staying here tonight.”
“I will if you want me to.” She pressed her forehead to Emma’s.
“I do.” Emma pressed soft lips to Keira’s, and they stayed like that for several moments, enjoying the light gentle touches of lips on lips and lips on skin, before Emma pulled back as if remembering something. “You distracted me.” She pulled her body away, and Keira lost the contact immediately. “I have something for you.” Keira watched as she again picked up the stack of papers, removing the forms from them and placing them carefully on the counter. “We’re framing those and hanging them on our wall.” Emma nodded at two ridiculous speed dating forms. Keira felt suddenly at home. Emma had used the word our to describe this apartment, but it was more than that. It was the cavalier way she’d done it; as if it was prescribed that this would be their apartment together one day. Keira watched Emma as she seemed to arrange the pages in a particular order and then passed them to Keira.
“What are these?”
“I did something today. It’s pretty much the only thing I did, actually. I’m sure Ivy’s going to be pissed on Monday, but… oh well,” Emma replied.
“This has my name on it?”
“Yes, it has the business name on it.” Emma pointed at a line on the top page. “Summer and Lena started a venture capital firm a while ago. They invest in small businesses or the next great idea. They’ve got a few companies starting up, and one is going strong already. I can’t believe I didn’t think about it before. I’m sorry. I probably would have been able to if I wasn’t being such an ass.”
“These are business ownership papers, Emma?” Keira glanced up to meet Emma’s eyes.
“They’re interested in backing you, Keira. I was on the phone with both of them for most of the day, and with a couple of the people they hire to help make these decisions. This is the introduction packet. It just has the stuff they need to help them make the decision.”
“You got your friends to loan me money since I won’t take any from anyone else?” Keira placed the papers on the counter.
She didn’t want to be disrespectful or look a gift horse in the mouth, but this being a fixer thing Emma kept trying wasn’t what Keira wanted for their relationship.
“Come here.” Emma pulled Keira slowly by the hand, and they sat back on the sofa. “I didn’t get them to loan you anything. You have to do the work; and only if you’re interested, Keira. I didn’t tell them anything was a done deal because it’s not my deal to make. When I told them that you needed capital, I didn’t tell them anything about your personal finances or even give them details. I talked to them about your business and that I
thought it would be something they’d like to be a part of. They like working in the community with their projects. When I told them about the success of the health fair and that Ivy wants you back next year, they said they wanted to hear the whole pitch.” Emma squeezed Keira’s hand and stared into her eyes. “I promise, I’m not trying to fix anything for you. If you don’t want this, don’t take it. You can still stay here, and we will still be us.”
Keira thought about that. Would Emma still think that five months from now, when Keira was still crashing on her bed, leaving clothes and dirty dishes in the confining apartment they’d still share thanks to Keira not taking advantage of this opportunity?
“It’s a lot,” she finally admitted.
“I know. You don’t have to decide on anything now. Oh, and if you don’t pitch it, or they say no, this is still your place, Key. You can stay here for as long as you want. This is completely separate. I mean that, okay?”
Keira smiled at Emma. She’d known her thoughts, her worries, without Keira even having to express it.
“Okay.” She turned back toward the paperwork. “What do I have to do?”
“Just read over the stuff they had me print out. Then, you’ll pitch your business. They’ll go over the business plan and financials and decide if they want to invest, how much, and how it will work.”
“I don’t know how to do any of that, Em. Michelle and I used our own money, and some people from our family chipped it.”
“Keira, did you present your business idea to those people?”
“Yeah, but–”
“Then, you already know a little about it. Besides, I have Hailey ready and willing to help you with anything you need in the Marketing and PR area; Charlie is offering to look at any space you pick out for an office and help with the design; Ember has agreed to help you with the financial stuff you need, including putting together proposals and forecasts. Eva told me she has a Ph. D in Literature, so she’s not sure how much help she can be, but if you need a blurb written for something, she’s your girl. Hannah runs Camden Properties and said she’d be happy to connect you to the event planners in the Bay Area hotels to help you drum up some business and even connect you to the person in charge of vendor relations when you get that far, for a more broader reach. Alyssa said if you needed help from someone who’s had some experience turning their life back around, she’s your girl. Plus, her best friend, Rachel, is a lawyer and can look stuff over for you, if you want.”
Keira was completely speechless. She stared in awe at the woman in front of her, realizing she’d done all that in one day. She’d done all that for her and for her business; a business that was failing.
“Emma, I can’t believe you did all that for me.”
“Keira, I love you. I’d do anything for you. I know I have to back off sometimes because I’ve been told I like to fix things, but I swear I’m not trying to fix anything for you. I happen to have all these amazing friends in my life now. I realized that they would all drop everything to help me if I asked, because that’s what friends do. I’d do the same for them. It’s the same reason your friends dropped everything they had going on to help you at the wedding. They love you.” She paused. “I don’t want to fix you. I love you. I believe in you. I’ve seen what you can do and how much you love it. I’ve also seen that twin bed in your old room. I want you to have what you want up here and not what you’d have to take down there.”
“You are amazing. I don’t think I can do all of this, Em.” She dropped her head to the back of the sofa. “I’m only one person, and–”
“Keira, when are you going to learn that that’s not true? I just did a whole speech thing.” Emma moved into her and slid Keira’s hair behind her ear. “Your friends here love you. I love you. We will do anything we can to help you make this happen. We’ll work a party every weekend if we have to until this gets going.”
“But your friends don’t know me. I met a few of them, yeah, but–”
“But they know me. They know that I love you. You’re worth it, Keira Worthy.”
“So, I just put together a business case?”
“Do you know that like half of my job is project management and that I put together business cases all the time?” Emma smiled at her.
“Really? I had no idea,” Keira replied sarcastically with a laugh.
“Tonight, let’s just eat the dinner you brought. And tomorrow, we can dive into it all together. I’ve got everyone on speed dial, waiting to tag in whenever we need them, okay?”
“How did I get so lucky?” Keira asked her as she ran her hand along Emma’s cheek.
“You checked the right box,” Emma replied.
EPILOGUE
“Em, I think it’s done,” Keira announced.
“I think you’re right.”
“It better be done, because I’m exhausted,” Greene added.
“Oh, be quiet,” Joanna tossed in. “You only helped a little and spent more time flirting with the food delivery girl, who dropped off lunch.”
“I did not. She flirted with me. I let her down easy,” Greene retorted.
“Sure, you did,” Joanna laughed.
“I’m glad Charlie and I could be here to see it all come together,” Hailey poured on.
“Me too,” Charlie agreed.
The six of them sat in random office chairs around an open-floor-planned office. The walls went from light teal to a light green and then offered hints of pale purples and oranges to bring a definite amount of color to the space. Keira wanted the office to be lively. There were ten total desks complete now, with laptops and the very basics in office supplies. The chairs had only just arrived, been unboxed and put into place on the beautiful laminate flooring Charlie had suggested because it went with the color scheme, looked real, and would hold up to the workings of an office well. There were plants next to each window, and there were several windows.
Emma was sitting in the chair behind the desk closest to where Keira found herself sitting and could only marvel at how amazing her girlfriend really was. In three short months, she’d put together her business plan, pitched it to Taft Investments, received enough money to pay off the initial debt and build out this office. True, Summer and Lena had been very generous with Keira’s investment, but the members of their firm, who reviewed Keira’s proposal, were also impressed and agreed to invest.
She and Keira had spent nearly every free moment working on her business. Once she’d gotten the money, they found this place and got to work on the office. Every one of their friends had chipped in something just as they’d said they would. Hillary and Green both helped Keira with the search for the office space and then helped paint and move stuff in whenever they could. Joanna had even tagged along and made herself available to help. Hailey had assisted Keira with setting up her new marketing campaigns and got her in touch with a web designer she knew to help Keira build her new and improved website. Charlie had been a huge help with the office space. Ember had helped with the proposal, and Eva had reviewed it. Kevin had helped with most of the heavy lifting. Tracy had supervised that and helped paint. Alyssa’s skills hadn’t been required, which Hannah had gotten a kick out of, but she’d taken care of the kids while Hannah had helped with getting Keira in the door with Camden.
“I can’t believe it’s actually happening,” Keira said a moment later.
“Now, you just have to hire everyone,” Greene shared.
“I still can’t believe you’re stealing Mason from us.” Joanna winked at Keira.
“He came to me. I made sure to check with this one first.” She pointed at Emma, who smiled back at her.
“We’ll find a new assistant, Jo,” Emma told her colleague.
“I’ve got four positions I need to fill, and fast. I have some good candidates already for a couple of the positions though. I should have offers for them tomorrow, and we’ll see.”
“Worthy Bash?” Hailey said as she stared at the sign over the door. “It’s a
nice name.”
“It was Michelle’s,” Keira began. “Her name was Michelle Anne Bashing. Her name is kind of how the whole thing started.”
“It is?” Emma turned to question.
“Yeah.” Keira smiled. Emma knew she was smiling at the memory of her best friend. “We were about to graduate and had worked some parties and stuff by then. I’d kind of figured out that event planning was what I wanted to do. One day, she said that we should start our own company.” She laughed. “And then she just said it – Worthy Bash. We both laughed, and that was it.”
“That’s a great story,” Hailey told her.
“Yeah, it is.” Emma watched the smile on Keira’s face grow wider with her compliment.
“Well, I have to get out of here. My hands can no longer work those IKEA screws.” Greene stood. “Want a ride?” She glanced in Joanna’s direction.
“Sure. Wanna grab some food on the way?” Joanna stood. “The place looks great, Keira.”
“Yeah. Mexican okay?” Greene asked her back. “And it does look great, Keira,” Greene said to Keira and turned back to Joanna, who nodded about the Mexican food.
“Thank you for all your help.” Keira stood and hugged Joanna before offering a hug to Greene as well.
“We’ve got a flight to catch,” Charlie reminded Hailey.
“I know.” Hailey stood. “But we’ll see you two at the wedding, right?”
“Yes,” Emma answered.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a baby on board by then.” She crossed her fingers.
Charlie stood and said, “We’ll get there, Hails.” She reached out for Hailey to take her hand.
“I’m secretly hoping for triplets so that we can outdo Al and Han, but Charlie isn’t hoping for the same thing,” she explained to Keira while Emma hugged Charlie goodbye.
“I’m hoping for a healthy kid.” Charlie pulled back from Emma. “Or healthy kids, if that’s what you want.”
Emma glanced at Keira who just rolled her eyes. Luckily, they still had Lena and Summer to hang out with after all their other friends start having babies. Emma didn’t mind being the cool aunt or the babysitter, but she liked the idea of it just being the two of them. She was lucky enough to have found the woman who wanted the same thing.
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